Pocket for display of merchandise



Oct. 8, 1957 H.'J. RUBENSTEIN POCKET FOR DISPLAY OF MERCHANDISE Filed Feb. 25, 1954 United States Patent POCKET FOR DISPLAY OF MERCHANDISE Harry J. Rubenstein, Kansas City, Mo.

Application February 23, 1954, Serial No. 412,015

2 Claims. (Cl. 211-106) This invention relates to the field of supporting articles of merchandise in a position for display and sale, the primary object being to provide an inexpensive, light weight, yet extremely strong, easily manufactured pocket structure that may be mounted on a supporting framework in a multitude of ways and in association with a plurality of identical pockets arranged in any suitable pattern.

It is the most important object of the present invention to provide pocket structure of the aforementioned character universally adapted for receiving a large number of differing types of articles of merchandise such as books, pamphlets, cards and magazines notwithstanding the differences in weights, sizes and self-sustaining abilities thereof, all by virtue of the fact that without change in structure variance in the manner of mounting the pocket on a support will adapt the same for such varied uses.

A still further object of the present inventionis to improve upon the disclosures of my co-pending applications Serial Nos. 192,041, filed October 25, 1950, now U. S. Patent 2,698,690, dated January 4, 1955, and

354,268, filed May 11, 1953, this being a continuationin-part thereof.

Other objects include important details of construction, all of which will'be made clear or become apparent as the following specification progresses, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a pocket for display of merchandise made pursuant to my present invention.

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view thereof.

Fig. 3 is atop plan view thereof; and

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on line IV-IV of Fig. 2.

The pocket structure illustrated in the drawing is char acterized by the fact that it includes but one pair of continuous wire frameworks and 12, so interconnected as to present sides, a bottom, a front and a back as will hereinafter be made clear. The continuity of the two frameworks 10 and 12 is, of course, advantageous from the standpoint of manufacture, both as to economy of materials and ease of assembly, as well as reduction in overall cost of manufacture, but it is, of course, to be understood that the invention is not limited to such continuous wire construction.

The framework 10 includes a pair of U-shaped sides 14 and 16. The side 14 has a bight 18 and a pair of legs 20 and 22, whereas the side 16 is provided with a bight 24 and a pair of legs 26 and 28 extending toward the legs 20 and 22 of side 14.

The frame 10 also includes a U-shaped bottom 30 having a bight 32 and a pair of forwardly extending leg elements 34 and 36.

The front of the pocket and which also forms a part of the frame 10, includes a pair of members 38 and 40 that depend from legs 20 and 26 respectively and interconnect the latter with the forwardrnost ends of the legs 34 and 36 respectively.

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Frame 10 is provided with a back taking the form of an intermediate extension 42 that interconnects the legs 22 and 28 Frame" 12 includes a U-shaped back 44 and-a U-shaped spanner 46. Back 44 includes a bight 48 and a pair of uprights 50 and 52 that depend from the bight 48. The spanner 46 has a bight 54 and a pair of rearwardly extending legs 56 and 58 that join with the lowermost ends of the uprights 50 and 52 respectively.

The back 44 has itsuprights 50 and 52 joined to legs 22 and 28 respectively and is, therefore, joined to the intermediate extension-42 which traverses the uprights 50 and 52 at the front thereof, although it is to be under stood that in some instances the extension 42 could be disposed rearwardly of the back 44 if desired.

The spanner 46 joins the elements 34 and 36, and to this end the bight 54 thereof is welded directly to the legs 34 and 36 therebelow, but here again, the bight 54 may overlie the legs 34 and 36 in appropriate cases. The interconnection between legs 22 and 28, or extension 42 and the uprights 50 and 52, is likewise preferably by spot-welding.

The position of the bight 54 along the lengths of legs 34 and 36 may be varied by increasing or decreasing the lengthslof the legs 56 and 58, why varying the angularity of the uprights 50 and 52 a r In the pocket structure chosen for illustration, all of the bights 48, 32, 54, 18 and 24, as well as the extension 42, are substantially horizontal, whereas the front members 38 and40 are substantially vertical. In all cases it is desired that the uprights 50 and 52 slope inwardly toward the forwardmost ends of the legs 34 and 36 as the lowermost ends of the legs 50 and 52 are approached.

The horizontal positioning of the legs 34 and 36and, of course therefore, the'legs 56 and 58, may be, and will be, varied depending upon the type of merchandiseto be supported and displayed in the pocket. Some articles rest on the bottom 30. and against the back 44-more satisfactorily if the legs 34 and 36 are horizontal as shown; in other-instances it is better to slope the legs 34 and 36 downwardly as the bight 32 is approached or even upwardly as the bight 32 is approached.

In any event, the pocket lends itself well to mounting upon many types of supports, one of which is illustrated in the drawing and constitutes a single upright standard 60 welded to the bights 48 and 32 rearwardly thereof. The upright 60 may well form a part of a unitary skeleton framework capable of receiving a plurality of the pocket structures arranged in horizontal series and/or vertical rows.

It is important at this point to note that the form and construction of the pocket forming the subject matter of this invention, permits the arrangement of the pockets one above the other for free and easy accessibility to the merchandise contained thereby, all without consuming a great amount of space in a retail dealers establishment by way of example.

Manifestly, the showing of support 60 interconnecting the bights 48 and 32, does not preclude the provision of a plurality of such supports for each pocket respec tively, or the utilization of similar supporting means joined to each of the bights 18 and 24 respectively.

In many instances it may be desired or preferred to mount a multitude of the pocket structures to a rotatable framework in circumscribing relationship to a vertical axis of rotation of such supporting framework. In that event, the backs 44, the bottoms 30 and/or the sides 14 and 16 are all well adapted for attachment to the chosen supporting framework.

Each of the frames 10 and 12 may be made from an initially straight length of bendable wire and thereupon quickly and easily formed and bentinto the desired shape such as illustrated in the drawing, whereupon the ends are interconnected by butt-welding 62 and 64 respectively. Many details of construction hereinabove set forth may be varied within the spirit of the invention and it is, therefore, desired to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is: 1. In pocket structure for display of merchandise, 2 first continuous, wire framework including a pair of U-shaped sides, a U-shaped bottom below the sides, and a front, the sides each having a bight and a pair of legs, the legs of one side extending inwardly toward the legs of the other side, the bottom having a horizontal bight and a pair of forwardly-extending, horizontal .leg elements, the front including a pair of members, each member being secured to one leg of a corresponding side and depending therefrom, each leg element .being joined atits forwardmost end to the lowermost end of a correspondingm'emher, there being an intermediate;extensionjoining the other legs of the sides; and a second continuous, wire framework including a U-shaped device and a U-shaped spanner, the spanner having a bight-joining the leg elements intermediate the ends of the latter and a pair of ,rcarwardly extending legs disposed substantially in the samehorizontal plane as said bottom, the device including a horizontal bight and a pair of inclined uprights extending downwardly and forwardly from its bight, the bights of said bottom and said device being, in a common vertical plane, the lowermost ends of the uprights being joined to the rearmost ends of the legs of the spanner forwardly of said extension, said other legs of the sides being joined to the uprights intermediate the ends of the latter and forwardly of said vertical Plane.

2. A display rack comprising a vertical wire support; and pocket structure disposed forwardly of the support for display of merchandise and including a first continuous, wire frameworkincluding a pair of substantially horizontal, U-shaped sides, a substantially horizontal, U- shaped bottom substantially parallel with the sides therebelow, and a vertical front, the sides each having a bight and a pair of parallel legs, the legs of one side extending inwardly toward the legs of the other side, the bottom having a bight rigidly connected with said support and a pair of forwardly-extending leg elements parallel with the bights of said sides, the front including a pair of parallel members, each secured to one leg of a corresponding side and depending therefrom, each leg element being joined at its forwardmost end to the lowermost end of a corresponding member, there being a horizontal, intermediate extension ,disposedforwardly of the support in coplanar alignment with the other legs of the sides and in integral interconnecting relationship thereto, and a sec ond continuous, wire framework including a U-shaped device and a U-shaped spanner, the spanner having a horizontal bight rigidly joining the leg elements therebeneath and intermediate the ends of the latter, and a pair of parallel, rearwardly-extending legs embracing the leg elements and disposed substantially in the same horizontal plane as said bottom, the device including a horizontal bight disposed above said sides and rigidly connected with said supportin parallelism Withsaid extension and with said bight of the bottom, and a pair of parallel, inclined uprights extending downwardly and forwardly from its bight, said extension spanning the distance between said uprights, the bights of said bottom and said device being in a common vertical plane, the lowermost ends of the uprights being joined to the rearmost ends of the legs of the spanner forwardly of said extension, said other legs of the sides being joined to the uprights intermediate the ends of the latter and forwardly of said vertical plane in spaced relationship to said support, said other legs extendinglaterally in opposite directions from said uprights.

References Cited in the ,file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 963,958 'Stoner et al July 12, 1910 1,359,125 Stevens Nov. 16, 1920 1,459,002 Swift June'19, 1923 1,713,667 Leng May 21, 1929 2,167,375 Rubenstein July 25, 1939 2,302,188 Carrier Nov. 17, 1942 2,560,896 Rubenstein July 17, 1951 2,626,060 Rubenstein J an. 20, 1953 

